DNA catastrophe
by Anony mouse101
Summary: It was suppose to be a normal Saturday, just the team hanging out, doing whatever. But evil never takes a weekend, so when Doctor Octopus breaks out of jail and steals back his animal DNA serums its up to our favorite team of Herod to save the day! But what sort of nefarious plot does Doc Oct have in store?
1. Chapter 1

DNA catastrophe ch 1

Chapter one: the mission and back to day care.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Gah!" Peter fell out of his bed, startled by the sound of his alarm going off. Laughter came from the hall as his team congratulate themselves on a prank well done.

"Haha, very funny." Peter said sarcastically as he stood up. Sam was holding his side as he continues laughing.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Luke chuckles. Even Ava and Danny were having trouble suppressing their laughter.

"Totally priceless!" Sam manages between his laughing fit.

"Whatever just get out of my room." Peter closed the door on his team. Ever since they had moved in there had been an ongoing prank war between everybody. Even now that they had moved back into the tricarrier it was still going on. Last week Peter had put super glue on the inside of Sam's helmet, it had taken hours to get it off! Danny had made cookies, with salt instead of sugar, and many other pranks like that.

Today Peter had a special prank in mind to get them back for this one. Just thinking about it was making him laugh, but for now he just needed to get ready for the day. After a few moments Peter came downstairs to Aunt May making her signature Saturday breakfast, scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

"Smells great, Aunt May." He commented, taking a seat at the table next to Danny. It had become tradition for the team to gather at Pete's house for Saturday breakfasts.

"Oh Peter, you always say that." She smiled as she put the food on the table, "alright kids, eat up! I'll be back later today."

"Your not eating with us?" Luke asked, already dishing a mountain of eggs onto his plate.

"Nope, the girls and I are heading out for Brunch after our spinning class and then I may be doing a little shopping." She explained looking up at the clock, "Cheese and crackers! I'm late! See ya kids! Call me if you need anything from the store!" She grabbed her purse and ran out the door.

"Well, I guess we got the house to ourselves today." Peter shrugged as he grabbed a piece of cinnamon toast.

"Who wants to catch a movie?" Luke asked around a mouthful of eggs.

"I was thinking about heading to the park to play some frisbee." Sam said as he poured himself some more orange juice.

"I was planning on going to the tricarrier to train a little." Ava said. The boys looked at her as though she had said she was going to go to school.

"Wrong you're going on a mission." Nick Fury said, appearing on their communicators.

"Really, its a Saturday. Don't villains ever take a break on the weekends?" Peter complained.

Fury ignored him and explained the mission, "Doc Ock broke out of jail and into a S.H.E.I.L.D warehouse last night and stole back all his animal DNA serums. Luckily the tracking device we installed on the case hasn't been discovered yet, also we fear that a recent string of kidnappings may be tied in with this."

"Wait up, kidnapping?" Luke said disbelievingly.

"Correct, many kids from a local orphanage have been reported missing."

"Wait a moment, why would Doc take a bunch of kids?" Sam asked.

"Our theory is that he sees them as a resource for experimentation." Fury explained.

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go save those poor kids!" Luke shouted, anger taking over his emotions.

"Be calm my friend, anger clouds judgement." Danny said, putting his hand on Luke's shoulder.

"We're sending you the coordinates, good luck." Fury ended the transmission.

"Let's go!" Ava said, already in her white tiger costume. The boys followed right behind her.

A while later we find the teen heroes under the bustling city of New York in, you guessed it, the sewers.

"Why can't villains ever put their lairs somewhere nice? Like a tropical island, or maybe even an ice cream shop?" Nova joked weakly.

"Really?" White Tiger asked looking over her shoulder at him.

"What, just trying to relieve the tension." Nova said walking faster. White tiger rolled her eyes and kept walking.

"We should be there soon." Spidey whispered. Sure enough around the next corner was a big safe like door.

"Power man, will you do the honors?" Spidey gestured to the door.

"With pleasure." Power man popped his knuckles.

"Wait," White Tiger hissed, "we should do this stealthily. We don't want to alert Doc of our presence just yet."

"Oh it's to late for that." Doc Ock said, coming out of the shadows and pushing a button. A trapdoor opened beneath the teens and all of them, except Nova, fall down.

"Haha, missed me" he gloated before one of Doc's tentacles shock him with a taser, causing him to pass out and fall down the trapdoor too.

The heroes awoke to find themselves in a clear container of some kind. Power man instantly tries to break through the wall only to be blasted backwards into Spidey and Iron Fist.

"Uh, uh, uh." Doc said coming over to them, "you see this is a specially designed cage. The walls are made of a substance of my own concocting, any force applied to it is multiplied and sent back. Ingenious isn't it?" He laughed maniacally.

"What's your game Doc? Trying to make little lizards out of that serum stuff?" Nova asked.

"Close, I just needed to reanalyze it so I can try out my new invention. Here why don't I demonstrate it." He smirked evilly and headed to another container close by, one full of kids.

"The trick is which one, after all some don't react well with the serum." Doc smiled at the kids, who all backed up into a corner. All except one, a girl about Ava's age, by the look of her, with brown hair and blue eyes glared at Doc defiantly, standing protectively in front of the other much younger kids.

"You don't scare us, you lunatic." She called, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hmm. Strong, healthy looking, you'll do nicely." Doc pushed a bottom on his remote, opening a small door in the ceiling, then reached in a tentacle and pulled out the girl, dangling helplessly by her legs.

"Leave her alone you big bully!" One of the kids shouted. Many of the other kids started shouting and crying.

"Let the girl go, Ock!" Ava called over.

"Nope, then you'll miss the show." The Doc laughed. Apparently Doc's time in jail had done little for his sanity.

"Put me down, you freak!" the girl tried to fight back to no avail. He carried her over and placed her on a table. Instantly, metal straps sprang out and secured her to it. Octopus then reached over and pulled out a injector containing a bright green liquid. He then, ignoring the shouts from the heroes and children to stop, jabbed the needle into the girl's arm. She gritted her teeth as the serum took effect. It was quick and painful but there didn't seem to be any results until the girl then started to shrink until she was the size of a mouse, scratch that, she was a mouse!

"What the heck?" Nova shouted as the creature tried to scurry away.

"Remarkable isn't it? A serum that not only changes the subject's DNA but allows them to recombine it into different forms to allow more adaptability to the subject's environment. The world will surly recognize my genius now!" Doc said, picking the mouse up by the tail.

"That's just sick and wrong." Spidey said, shaking his head.

"You think you could do better?" Oct asked him, coming closer.

"Yeah, and there's one problem with this cage of your's too." Spidey said.

"And what's that?" Doc growled coming even closer.

"It's not stable." Spidey said, flicking the top left corner of the window, it caused the whole thing to crack apart freeing the teens.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Tiger growled.

"I just noticed it." Spiderman confessed.

"Forget that. It's butt kicking time!" Luke laughed and charged Doc, slamming his fist into one of the mad scientist's robot tentacles. It buckled a bit causing Ock to drop the mouse. It squeaked and turned into the girl again just before it landed, she quickly moved over to the container with the other kids in it. Oct swung an arm and sent Power man flying across the room into a wall. Nova began blasting Ock as Iron Fist and White Tiger launched a sneak attack from behind. Spidey was tangling Ock's legs in his webs and distracting him with flashweb, while Power man charged Ock from the side again only to have him dodge causing him to slam into his teammates.

"Next time heroes, I'll be the victor." Doc shouted as he made a retreat.

"That could have gone better." Nova said, flying over to his team.

"Ya think?" White Tiger grumbled from the bottom of the pile.

"I don't mean to be rude but I could use a hand over here." The girl called.

"Oh hey, no problem." Nova flew over and tried the same trick as Spiderman, but it didn't work. He tried again and again and again getting more frustrated with each failed flick.

"Dude, just push the release button." The girl rolled her eyes.

"Right." Nova pushed the button and the kids rushed out as soon as the door opened. The kids swarmed the heroes, asking them various questions and other things.

"Are you really Spiderman?" One little boy asked Spidey.

"I've seen you on TV, you're amazing!" A boy told IronFist.

"Will the Octopus man come back?" A little girl asked grabbing Power man's hand.

"You're my favorite super hero!" One boy told Tiger.

"Are you gonna take us home?" A kid asked Spidey.

"I want to be as strong as you when I get big!" Another kid told Power man.

"Why do you where a bucket on your head?" A little girl asked Nova.

They where interrupted by a sharp whistle.

"Guys, chill out." The girl said, "let's get out of here first, then you can ask them a million questions." The kids backed off.

"Thank you." Tiger said, wiggling loose from a kid who had decided to hold onto her leg. Spidey downloaded Ock's notes while Tiger searched for the serum. Iron Fist contacted Fury who sent a vehicle to pick up the kids.

"What do we do about the girl?"

"Bring her to the base." Was Nick's reply.

"But what if…" he started.

"Just do it." Nick said before hanging up.

"Oh great." He huffed.

"What's wrong?" The girl asked coming over to him. The others had already completed their tasks and where gathering the kids into the S.H.I.E.L.D. vans that had arrived.

"Nothing." He said.

"Hmm. Come on, the others are waiting for you." She said, walking back towards the group.

Iron Fist rejoined his team and explained what Fury had said.

"Really? We need to bring her back with us?" Spidey asked.

"Yep." Iron Fist nodded.

"How are we gonna do that? There's no way she'll come with us if that means leaving the kids. You've seen how protective she is." Power man said, looking over as the girl helped the kids into the vans, glaring at any S.H.E.I.L.D. operative that tried to help.

"We'll just tell her what's going on, I'm sure she'll be happy to come along then." Nova said sarcastically.

"That might work actually." Tiger said, tapping her chin with one finger.

"Then you do it." Nova said, giving Tiger a push in the girl's direction.

"Fine I will." She walked off and the boys watched as the two girls talked. The girl kept shaking her head as Tiger talked, pointing at the kids and saying something. Finally the girl nodded resignedly and Tiger rejoined the group.

"See easy."

The team headed back to the base, the girl riding with Spiderman.

"So what's your name?" He asked her.

"Alice." She answered, finally smiling a bit.

"Nice to meet you. I'm…"

"I already know." She laughed.

"What?! How?" Spidey panicked, thinking that she meant his secret identity.

"Who else where's a spider themed costume?" Alice asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, right." He said, grateful he was wearing a mask to hide his embarrassment.

"We're here." He said as the tricarrier came into view.

"She wasn't kidding when she said it was big." Alice said in surprise.

"Yeah, what did Tiger say to make you come along anyway?" Nova asked flying close to them.

"She promised that we'd be safe here." Alice said, looking down at the vans below.

"So are you like their big sis or something?" Nova pressed.

"I guess you cloud say that." Alice smiled briefly.

"Ok." Nova flew past them and into the Tricarrier.

It wasn't long before they where all in the Tricarrier. The kids all huddled together behind Alice, awed and scared.

"Welcome to the S.H.E.I.L.D Tricarrier, I'm agent Coulson." Coulson said coming in.

"Where's Fury?" Tiger asks.

"He had a previous assignment. Anyway, these are all of them?" Coulson nods at the kids.

"Not quite." Alice spoke up, looking down, "There was one more, Joe, the octopus guy gave him some of the stuff he gave me but it made him go crazy and disappear."

"Sorry we couldn't have gotten there sooner." Spidey put a hand on her shoulder. She looks at him and smiles sadly.

"What's gonna happen to us?" A little girl asked, looking up at Coulson.

"We're gonna take care of you until we can get you home. Spidey, could you and your team escort them to the day care? Oh and keep an eye on them, since the nanny bots haven't been repaired yet." Coulson said, ruffling the little girls hair as he spoke, causing her to giggle.

"Hey! We're super heroes, not baby sitters!" Nova complained but Coulson was already gone. Tiger took the lead and headed towards the day care, the boys dividing so they kept the kids protected on all sides. They made it there and the kids started settling in.

"Thanks for rescuing us." One of the little boys came up to Nova and hugged his leg. Nova checked to make sure none of his team was looking before bending down and giving the kid a quick hug.

"No problem kiddo." He smiled.

"How sweet." Alice said, coming up behind him.

"Gah! How long where you there?" Nova leaped in surprise.

"Long enough." Alice smirked, holding a little girl in her arms.

"Long enough for what?" Tiger asked being pulled there by a few kids.

"Nothing." Alice winked to Nova.

"Come on kitty lady, we wanna look around." One of the kids said pulling her arm.

"No, we need to stay in here." Tiger said, trying to pull back.

"But we wanna go exploring!" A kid whined.

"She's right guys, you need to stay here. How about you make a drawing for these guys." Alice said, untangling their hands from Tiger's arms.

"Ok Alice." They said heading to the arts and crafts.

"Thanks again." Tiger said, massaging her wrists.

"No problem." Alice said, looking out over the kids. Power man was reading a story to a few, Spidey had made a couple of small swings with his webbing and pushing the kids, and Iron Fist was helping a few color. Even Nova was pitching in, getting snacks for a couple that said they where hungry. Alice set the little girl down and she ran off to join the fun.

"So when these guys go home, to the orphanage, what happens to me?" Alice asked Tiger. Tiger opened her mouth to respond when Fury came in.

"This her?" He asked Tiger.

"Yes." She confirmed.

"What's your name kid?" Fury asked turning to her.

"A-a-Alice." She stammered, intimidated by the large man with the eye patch.

"Nick Fury. Come with me please."

"Where's Alice going?" A boy asked, coming over with a piece of paper in his hand.

"I'll be right back." She said crouching down so she was eye level with the boy, looking over her shoulder at Fury. He nodded, confirming that she would come back.

"This is for you." The little boy handed her the paper.

"Thanks Billy, now go play." She smiled, standing up again. She followed Fury out into the hall. As they walked Alice unfolded the paper to see a poorly drawn picture of her standing in front of the kids, protecting them from the octopus guy.

"Not bad." Fury commented slowing down and looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, Billy's always been good at drawing." Alice sighed.

"Do you have any idea what Doc Ock did to you?" Fury asked.

"Something about recombining DNA." She said, folding the paper and sticking it in her pocket.

"Hmm. Any side effects yet?" He asked.

Alice thought a moment, "I changed into a mouse then back again," she then asked, "will I ever be normal again?"

"Don't worry, we have some of the best scientists here. They'll see what we can do to help you." He said, opening a door to a lab. A number of scientists where prepping various equipment. A man came over.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cage." The man with one arm introduced himself, then the woman standing next to him, "this is my wife, Dr. Cage."

"I'm Alice." She said, shaking his hand.

"Right this way please." He motioned to one of those beds you see in doctor's offices. Alice went over and sat down. A scientist cleaned off a spot on her arm and held up a syringe.

"Oh goody, more needles." Alice closed her eyes as he took a blood sample.

"We're just going to see what kind of effect the serum's had on your body." Mrs. Dr. Cage explained, squirting a drop onto a microscope slide and outing a cover on it. She then stuck the slide under a microscope and Mr. Dr. Cage fiddled with the nobs, making a few comments here and there but not saying anything besides that.

Finally he stood up and flipped a switch, turning in a screen displaying Alice's blood sample. They looked perfectly normal.

"As you can see the cells themselves seem perfectly fine and heathy." Dr. Cage said, then pushed a button on the monitor. The scope zoomed inside the cells showing the DNA, "the inside is a whole different story. Alice, your DNA is now able to reconstruct itself into different ways at your will. The result of this new ability is that you can change your physical form into theoretically any creature or person."

"So that crack job scientist, no offense, turned me into a shapeshifter? Cool." Alice said, she had always liked animals.

"No not cool, the serum has made your cells unstable, if we can't cure you or at least stabilize your DNA, then it could unravel and you would end up dead." Mrs. Dr. Cage went on.

"A bit harsh there, Doc." Alice winced.

"How soon do you think a cure could be made?" Fury asked.

"Not sure, Spiderman's last cure for Dr. Conners was a miracle in itself. A not permanent cure at that. It could take months to analyze this and figure a cure."

"And what do I do until then?" Alice asked.

"You'll stay here under supervision, if your condition goes critical we could at least try to help you." Fury answered, the Cages nod.

"Ok, wow." Alice felt dazed.

"We know its a lot to take in but trust us, we'll do whatever we can to help you." Fury said.

"What about the kids?" Alice asked, her eyes flashing with worry.

"We're taking them back to the orphanage in the morning, for now they'll spend the night here." Coulson said, entering the room.

"Ok. And until then I just act like everything's ok?" Alice questioned.

"Yes. We'll brief the others as soon as they get a chance." Coulson confirmed.

"I better get back to them now. Who knows what torture they're inflicting on those poor super heroes." Alice smiled, hiding her fear. Growing up alone in the nasty neighborhoods of New York City, Alice knew how to hide her fear.

"You know the way back?" Fury asked.

"Down the hall, take the first left, then a right and you're there." Alice said, heading out the door.

"Good, just stick to what we said and you'll be fine." Fury nodded.

"Like I have a choice." Alice mumbled as the door closed behind her. As soon as she was alone she let a few tears roll down her cheeks, before wiping them away quickly.

"Stay strong, the kids still need you." She told herself and headed back to the day care.

In the day care, however, things weren't going so well. Many of the kids where arguing and a few where crying loudly. Despite the heroes attempts to calm the kids down things had broken out into small fights. When Alice arrived Spidey had gotten tied up with his own webs, Iron Fist and Power man where holding a couple kids back from getting in a fist fight, Nova was trying to calm down bunch of crying kids and White Tiger was trying to get things into order. Alice sighed and did her piercing whistle again. Instantly all the mayhem stopped. The kids who had been crying rushed over to her and surrounded her in a group hug.

"I'm here, its ok." She soothed them, then, sternly, she looked at the trouble makers, "Jasper and Kade untie Spiderman right now! Austin, Ray, David, and Billy settle down, I'm sure that whatever your fighting over is important but we can solve it with words not fists." As she spoke the kids did as she said with a few grumbles here and there.

"Go play kids." Alice pushed through the kids to the six trouble makers. She stood there, arms crossed, waiting for an explanation.

"Jasper told me it would be fun to mess with Spidey." Kade said, pointing at his twin.

"Did not!" Jasper defended.

"I don't care who's idea it was. You both did it, now go apologize." She pointed to Spiderman.

"We're sorry Spiderman." They said in unison.

"No problem kids." Spidey said awkwardly, unsure what else to do.

Alice nodded then turned her attention to the remaining boys.

"Ray said Billy's drawing looked dumb and made him cry so I said Ray was dumb then Ray jumped on me making me accidentally hit Austin making him angry at me and then we started to fight and then Billy tried to get in the fight too to help me when those two guys came over and pulled us apart." David said in one breathe.

"Is this true?" Alice eyed the boys, watching for hints of lying. They weren't, so Alice made them apologize to each other before letting them go back and play.

"You're good." Nova said, coming up to stand next to Alice.

"I've had a lot of practice." She smiled before turning to play with the kids. They spent the rest of the day taking care of the kids. By dinner time they where all exhausted and where grateful when Alice got them all in bed, watching as she tucked them in.

"Alice?" Fiona asked.

"What sweetie?" Alice turned to her.

"Will you tell us a story?" She asked, her eyes big and pleading.

"Of coarse I will. Which one do you want to hear?" Alice said kindly.

"The brave knight!" David spoke up.

"No the turtle story!" Ben shouted.

"Fiona asked for the story, so Fiona gets to pick." Alice said calmly.

"I want the bird story!" Fiona said happily. The other children murmured with agreement and settled in their beds, eager for the story.

"Ok, the little sparrows it is. Once upon a time there was a papa sparrow and a mama sparrow, and they loved each other very much. They had a lovely nest just the right size for them. Everything was happy and perfect.

But then they decided that it was time to move to a bigger nest so they could have a big happy family. They searched high and they searched low but couldn't find anything. So they kept looking until they found the perfect nest. There they had many little baby sparrows. Everything was happy again. But the little sparrows grew up, as sparrows do and soon it was time to leave their nest. They where sad to leave their mama and papa so they decided to always come back to visit. And off they flew to find their own homes. One sparrow lived on a farm in an apple tree and was happy. Another sparrow lived in a forest in a willow tree and was happy. And the last sparrow lived in the city but wasn't happy. He couldn't find a tree to call home. One cold night when the little sparrow had been searching for a home he decided to perch of a windowsill to sleep for the night. He was so cold he couldn't wake up the next morning. And what should happen but a little girl opened the window and found him. Gently she picked him up and brought him inside. She put him in a wire cage close to the fire to warm him up. Soon he was warm and so happy he started to sing. The little girl was so kind to him that he decided to stay with her. The little girl loved the little sparrow and took very good care of him. Everyday she would let him out of the cage to stretch his wings and everyday he would thank her with a song. One day, in the spring the little girl noticed the little sparrow looked sad.

"What's wrong my little friend?" She asked him.

"I miss my family. I wish I could see them." The sparrow said to her. Although the little girl didn't want her friend to go she opened the door of his cage then the door of her house.

"I'll miss you my friend." She said as the little sparrow flew out the door.

"I'll miss you too." The sparrow called. He returned to his parent's home tree and was happy to see all his family was there. They chattered away until they began to discuss their homes.

"I live in an apple tree." The oldest sparrow said.

"I live in a willow tree." The second oldest sparrow said.

"I don't live in a tree." The youngest sparrow said.

"Why not?" Mama sparrow asked.

"Because I live with a little girl in her house. It is very warm and always happy there. And I love the little girl very much." The young sparrow said.

"It seems you have found a very fine home for each of you." Papa sparrow said proudly. All the sparrows sang together before their three children flew away to their happy homes to be with their families. And none was more happy than the girl and the youngest sparrow. The end." Alice finished the story. The kids had all dozed off during it and where now sleeping peacefully.

"Nice story." Spidey whispered.

"Thanks, you all should probably get to bed now too." Alice smiled at them. They whispered their farewells and left the day care quietly. Alice smiled as they left then laid out a blanket on the floor and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

DNA catastrophe ch 2

Chapter 2: late night walks and tests.

Iron Fist was going on his usual midnight walk and just so happened to be passing the day care when he heard someone crying. Pressing his ear against the door, he confirmed his suspicions and went inside. He saw Alice sitting next to a little girl, Brooke was her name if he remember correctly.

"I had a dream that the octopus guy came back and…" the little girl started crying again.

"Hey, it's ok, sshh. It was just a nightmare, he's not here. Even if he was, we got all these guy's to protect us. Like Spiderman and White Tiger." Alice calmed the girl, holding her close and patting her back.

"And Nova?" Brooke asked.

"Yep, Nova and Power Man and Iron Fist." Alice smiled, "so next time that creep comes into your dreams just dream about those guys too. They'll keep you safe." Alice gently laid the girl back in her bed. The girl was starting to drift off when she sat up again.

"Alice?" Brooke asked.

"Yes?" Alice asked, her smile never fading.

"Will you sing to me until I fall asleep?" Brooke asked shyly.

"I will." Alice started to hum and then started a soft lullaby,

"HOME no more home to me, whither must I wander?

Hunger my driver, I go where I must.

Cold blows the winter wind over hill and heather;

Thick drives the rain, and my roof is in the dust.

Loved of wise men was the shade of my roof-tree.

The true word of welcome was spoken in the door-

Dear days of old, with the faces in the firelight,

Kind folks of old, you come again no more.

Home was home then, my dear, full of kindly faces,

Home was home then, my dear, happy for the child.

Fire and the windows bright glittered on the moorland;

Song, tuneful song, built a palace in the wild.

Now, when day dawns on the broow of the moorland,

Lone stands the house, and the chimney-stone is cold.

Lone let is stand, now the friends are all departed,

The kind hearts, the true hearts, that loved the place of old.

Spring shall come, come again, calling up the moor-fowl,

Spring shall bring the sun and rain, bring the bees and flowers;

Red shall the heather bloom over hill and valley,

Soft flow the stream through the even-flowing hours;

Fair the day shine as it shone on my childhood-

Fair shine the day on the house with open door;

Birds come and cry there and twitter in the chimney-

But I go for ever and come again no more."

Brooke had drifted off to sleep in the middle of the song and Alice had tucked her in. Turning around to go back to the place she had made her bed for the night, she let out a small squeak of surprise when she spotted Iron Fist.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to frighten you." He said, he had gotten lost in the lyrics of her song so he hadn't thought about making some kind of sound so he didn't startle her.

"Why are you here?" She asked, curiosity and cation in her voice.

"I was just going on a walk and heard someone crying, so I came to investigate." He answered honestly.

Alice relaxed, her hands coming out of the fists they had been instinctively curled into.

"Sorry," she apologized, "force of habit."

"Strange habit."

"So is wandering around at night." Alice snapped back.

"A sharp tongue often hides a hurt heart." Iron Fist replied coolly.

"Who are you, Budda?" Alice asked flustered.

"No, just a friend." He smiled. Alice smiled back, then she started to laugh quietly. Iron Fist joined her. They both stopped abruptly as a few of the kids stirred in their sleep.

"Would you… like to join me… for a walk?" Iron Fist asked hesitantly.

"Sure, I could use the exercise." Alice followed him out the door. They walked along in silence, occasionally passing a night guard or two. They started chatting a bit as they walked, mostly of what they liked to do and the like.

"You like to do what?" Alice chuckled.

"Meditate. I don't see how it's funny." Iron Fist crossed his arms.

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at a memory." She explained, "At the orphanage if we did something against the rules we would be sent to a corner to 'meditate' on what we had done."

"And your laughing because?" Iron Fist asked.

"Because some of the kids would do what they saw monks do on TV, you know the whole sit with your legs crossed, eyes closed, and saying 'ommm' a billion times over. I'm sure with a real monk it's very serious stuff but to a bunch of kids it's hilarious." Alice said.

"Really?" Iron Fist frowned.

"Really," she noticed the frown, "sorry if I've offended you, I didn't mean too."

"It's ok, I get teased plenty by my friends for it. Although maybe you should try it, it's quite relaxing." Iron Fist smiled again.

"I may just have to." Alice smiled back. They continued on chatting for a while, stopping by one of the window's to look out at the sky.

"It's a shame that there's so much light pollution. I love to go star gazing." Alice sighed, looking at the few stars you could see.

"Where I'm from you can see millions of stars." Iron Fist looked out the window too.

"Where are you from?" Alice asked, looking over at him, her head tilted in curiosity.

"A place called K'un L'un, its pretty far from here and it's hidden in the mountains. But it's a beautiful city, those who go there go to seek spiritual enlightenment." Iron Fist smiled at the fond memories of his time in K'un L'un.

"Sounds wonderful." Alice smiled, then suppressed a yawn.

"Tired?"

"Only a little, having your DNA changed will do that to you." She joked lamely.

"Right, I had almost forgotten about that. You act so normal, like nothing is even wrong." Iron Fist contemplated.

"I have to. If the kids knew about what's really going on, I have no idea what they or I would do." Alice frowned, a tear slipping down her cheek.

"What is going on?" Iron Fist asked, his brow furrowed in worry, although it was hard to tell with his mask on.

"The serum Doc Ock gave me made my DNA unstable, it could unravel at any time and I'd die." She almost whispered the last part.

"Wow, that's harsh." Iron Fist said, rubbing the back of his neck , not knowing what else to do.

"I've gone through worse I guess." Alice said, looking down at the city. Iron Fist gave her a side long look.

"Ok, maybe I haven't but things could be worse." Alice said nudging his shoulder playfully. He nudged her back, and they laughed.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the day care." Iron Fist said as she let out another yawn.

"Ok, and thanks Iron Fist. I really needed this." Alice smiled.

"It was my pleasure Alice." He smiled back. Alice loved his smile, she just wished she could see his eyes too. They arrived back at the day care to quickly for Alice's liking.

"Thank you again." She smiled at him.

"You're welcome." He smiled back.

"Good night." She whispered as she slid into the day care.

"Good night." Iron Fist said, turning back to head for his room.

The next morning Alice was awakened by the kids all circled around her.

"Hey, kiddos. What's up?" She sat up and stretched.

"Mr. Coulson said we're going home today." Fiona said, bouncing happily in place.

"That's good. When do we leave?" Alice asked, standing up.

"Right now." Agent Coulson said entering the room. Alice lead the kids out to a SHEILD helicopter that was big enough to carry them all, helping to buckle them in.

"Aren't you coming to Alice?" Billy asked.

"I'm sorry kids, I have to stay here." Alice said.

"What!"

"Why?"

"That's not fair!"

And many other objections came from the kids while others started to cry.

"Listen kids, you remember yesterday when that crazy guy gave me a shot? Well it got me sick, so I have to stay here until I get better, ok?" Alice explained.

"You don't look sick." Billy patted her head.

"It's not the kind you can see. I'll be ok and back to see you guys in no time. Be good for me ok?" Alice smiled at them all.

"We'll try Alice." Austin promised.

"Get better soon Alice." Brooke said, holding back tears.

"I feel better already." Alice smiled and exited the helicopter, waving good bye over her shoulder. The kids waved back, and then they where gone.

"Come on, the Cages want to run some tests." Coulson said leading her back into the tricarrier. She followed, looking over her shoulder as the helicopter faded from her view.

White Tiger looked over irritatedly as Spidey and Nova got into another arm wrestling match against Power Man.

"Push harder!" Nova shouted at Spidey.

"I'm trying." Spidey strained.

"You guys are gonna break the table." She sighed.

"No we…"CRACK! "…won't." Power man was interrupted as the table broke in two.

"Told you so." Tiger said smugly.

"Oh man! Fury's gonna kill us!" Nova panicked.

"As much fun as that would be, no, I need you to go to the observation room. We'll discuss the table later." Fury said coming into the room.

"Observation room?" Spidey asked.

"We're running some tests on Alice today, see how she uses her new abilities." Fury explained. Spidey opened his mouth to ask another question but quickly closed it at Fury's sharp glare.

Moments later they where in the observation room, looking down at Alice. She seemed so small and week, standing on the middle of the training room.

"Ok Alice, we're gonna start things off simple." Coulson said through a mike.

"Ok, fire away." Alice said confidently, on the inside she was shaking like a leaf.

"Poor choice of words." Spidey grumbled to Iron Fist.

Robots came out of nowhere and began shooting at Alice. She jumped and dodged while trying to think of something.

"This is easy?! What do I do? I need to attack, but there are so many. How can I take then out without getting blasted?" She thought to herself. A lightbulb went on over her head and she focused on transforming.

In the observation room the gang leaned forward in anticipation.

"Where'd she go?" Nova asked, squinting to try and see her.

"No clue." Power man said, "but if that was me down there, I'd go for a forward attack."

"Obviously she's going for a sneak attack." Tiger said. Sure enough, a moment later a gorilla was in the middle of the robots, smashing them and ripping then apart.

"Woowee. I'd hate to be in that guys shoes." Spidey said, wincing as the gorilla ripped the head off of the last robot before changing back.

"Nicely handled Alice, let's see how you adapt to a change of scenery." Coulson pushed a few buttons and the training room took on the appearance of the Antarctic. Alice shivered from the sudden drop in temperature.

"Think, Alice, think. What live's in the cold?" She mumbled. She grinned as she let herself become an arctic fox, blending with the snow around her.

"So she's prone to stealth." Tiger marked. More robots des guided to look like men charged into the room, guns ready. Alice kept low and didn't move. The men came closer to where she was hidden, a few more steps and the lead would be on top of her. She felt something then, something inside her, something primal, instinctive even. She had been the hunted but now she would be the hunter. She worked her way around the men and leaped at the one in the back, taking him out with a bite up the neck, she changed back and took his gun. Shooting the remaining men, reviewing their robot form. The scene changed back to the training room, but Alice wasn't done. She still had that want to hunt, like the animals in her DNA wanted her too. Many of them anyway, others wanted her to go eat a mound of salad.

"That all you got?" She taunted Coulson, letting the predators take control. Coulson's eyes narrowed and he flipped a switch. In a moment the room was like a high school classroom.

"Arrogance comes before the fall." Iron Fist shook his head.

"What is this?" She asked in her head. A boy came in, he had shaggy brown hair and blue eyes.

"Hi. You must be here to… meet your end!" The boy jumped at Alice, not allowing her time to change form. She held him at bay but he was strong, probably another robot. She shoved him away and looked for a weapon. Before she could find one the guy started to punch at her. She bobbed and weaved, keeping her arms up to shield her face.

"Really? You had to use a robot of me!" Spidey complained.

"She asked for it." Coulson smirked.

The boy suddenly did a round house kick and sent her flying into the wall. She recovered and transformed into a lioness. She snarled at the boy and lunged at him, but he caught her before she could claw his face off.

"Down kitty." he mocked before he threw her backwards. She landed on her feet and charged again, weaving from side to side before she pounced and this time managed to shred part of his arm. Transforming into a bird she started dive bombing, pecking at his head before transforming into a bear and pinning him down. She was about to deliver the final blow when she saw the look of fear on the boys face. She paused, then lowered her paw. The boy's fear turned into a smile of Triumph as he brought his legs up and kicked her in her chin, sending her flying back. Dazed, she transformed back to normal. Still trying to recover she felt his foot in her gut as he kicked her back into the wall, knocking the breath from her. She laid there helplessly trying to regain her breath as the boy moved closer. The boy stopped and slumped over while the room turned back into the training room. She got up shakily, holding her arm in pain.

"Guess I asked for that one." She laughed, then winced in pain.

"You actually didn't do half bad." Coulson said coming into the room with the team, the Cages and Fury.

"You where doing really well, until you got cocky." Fury admitted.

"Sorry, it was really weird. It was like the animals I turned into took over and I just couldn't control them." Alice explained, noticing the Cages where taking notes. Tiger looked interested at what she said but didn't comment.

"Did you feel anything else when you changed?" Mrs. Dr. Cage asked.

"A bit funny but nothing else really."

"Hmm. We need to run some more tests." Mr. Dr. Cage nodded.

"Ok, let's go." Alice said, just wanting to get it over and done with.

"Don't you think you should see a medic first?" Spidey asked, "You took quite a beating."

"I feel fine." Alice said, although she now had a strange craving for meat, mainly zebra or antelope. What was she thinking she had never had either of those in her life! She tried to calm down but something was wrong.

"Alice, Alice? You ok?" Nova asked, flying behind her.

"No. Something's happening, get back!" She shouted at him. Just then she changed into the lioness again.

"Alice stand down." Fury ordered, pulling out his gun. The lion growled at him, ready to pounce. Before it could it fell to the floor and started thrashing around. The lion changed into a bear then an arctic fox, then the gorilla and then back to Alice. She was unconscious, barely breathing.

"What's going on?" Power man asked, getting really freaked out.

"Her DNA is unstable, apparently this is the result of when it goes into critical." Mrs. Dr. Cage explained.

"We need to get her to the lab, stat!" Mr. Dr. Cage ordered. Iron Fist picked her up and they all ran for the lab.

"Put her over there." Mrs. Cage ordered, pointing at a table. Iron Fist complied, placing her down gently. Other scientists began hooking her up to machines and monitors. A monitor showed her heart was beating very slowly, and getting slower. A scientist came over with that weird pulse thing, shouted, "Clear!" and shocked her. In a moment her heart had stopped and then started beating again at a normal pace. The Cages had a blood sample taken then began examining it. After a minute they turned to the others.

"Her DNA was starting to unravel, but something pulled it back together. We have no idea how but it looks like its changing again." Mr. Dr. Cage explained.

"Changing into what?" Spidey asked, looking at the girl.

"We need to run more tests before we're sure." Mrs. Dr. Cage said.

"For now, you heroes should head out on patrol." Fury ordered.

"What about Alice?" Nova asked.

"She'll be fine, we'll brief you on anything new when you get back." Fury said.

"Alright, let's go team." Spidey said, swinging out the door, the others following behind him.

After kicking a bunch of bank robbers butts and stuff the team returned to the tricarrier. Alice was in the mess hall, eating at a table by herself, her left arm was in a sling. The team got some food and joined her.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She said in her normal cheerful demeanor.

"Seriously; you took a pounding, went nuts, and almost died! How can you be so happy?" Nova asked, earning a punch in the shoulder from Power man.

"When life gives you lemons make lemonade." Alice shrugged, taking a sip of her water.

"Or you could throw them back." Spidey joked. While the others looked at him as though he had sprouted a second head, Alice laughed at the joke.

"At least someone appreciates my sense of humor." Spidey said smiling.

"So I gotta ask, what's with the masks?" Alice asked, smiling at the teens.

"Gotta protect our secret identity somehow." Power man shrugged, taking a bite of his hamburger.

"That makes sense." Alice nodded, taking a bite of her steak.

"So no other side effects from doc's serum?" Tiger asked, noticing that along with the steak Alice had fish, chicken and ham on her plate with no vegetables.

"Just weird cravings, like earlier I wanted to eat a zebra." She laughed, taking a bite of fish.

"Ok." Spidey said after the awkward silence. Alice shrugged and ate her chicken in one bite.

"Is it just me or is Alice getting a little more wild?" Spidey whispered to Tiger.

"It could be like with me and my tiger side." She whispered back. They both looked at Alice as she conversed with the others. She looked normal, just ate like an animal.

Spiderman finished quickly and then headed home. Nova headed to his room to play video games while Tiger and Power man headed to the training room to spar, leaving Iron Fist and Alice alone.

"So what do you want to do?" Alice asked, feeling energetic.

"I was planning to go meditate a little." He said, standing up.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked, standing up too.

Iron Fist considered her request then shrugged, "Why not?"

"Awesome." Alice said, following after him as he walked out. They walked down to his room, it was decorated simply, with a few pictures on a desk and a few monk looking things. Iron Fist lit a few incense burners and then sat down on the floor. Alice followed him and sat down to, her legs positioned in the full lotus form, just like his.

"Good, but the most important thing about meditating is to block out all outside distractions. To meditate is to think deeply, look inside to find the answer you seek." Iron Fist explained.

"So we just sit here and think?" Alice said, it sounded boring to her.

"Yes or you could just do this to relax. Since you don't know any of the chants we'll just do this in silence. Ok?" Iron Fist said, pressing his thumb and middle finger together while letting the rest of his hands and arms relax.

"Ok, do I have to do the same thing your doing with your hands?" She asked.

"No, you can just rest them on your lap." Iron Fist said. She did and closed her eyes.

"Concentrate on your breathing, just take slow deep breaths." He instructed. Alice did as she was told, allowing herself to relax. Iron Fist sensed her entering a meditative state and closed his eyes too. Their breathing fell into sync. He was soon alone in his mind, the outside world closed away for now.

"This girl is unusual." He thought, as he did so he remembered. The time he had first seen her, in Dr. Octopus's lab standing ready to fight to protect the children behind her. "She seems so strong, yet fragile at the same time." Dangling helplessly from Doc's tentacle, a flash of fear crossed her face, then later when she had come back from talking to Fury and a hint of a tear was still on her cheek, then when they had gone in that walk together the other night and she had let a few tears slide. "She's powerful but she lacks discipline." Her shredding the robots in the training room. "But she's merciful." Her stopping before she destroyed the Peter Parker robot. "This power Doc gave her is causing her to change." The way she acted during dinner. "Is there a way to bring the old her back?" Her being kind and gentle as she calmed Brooke when she woke up from her nightmare, and the way she had played with the kids. "Yes, find her a cure. But the Cages are already looking into that. Anything else?" He remembered the first time Dr. Conners transformed into the Lizard and how Peter had turned him back. "I could ask him if he could help the Cages."

"Iron Fist? Iron Fist?" Alice's voice broke through his train of thought.

"What's the matter?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"I need to go, I just didn't want you coming out of your trance and freaking out that I was gone." Alice said, pointing to the door where Mrs. Dr. Cage stood.

"Oh sure. See you later." He said, standing up and offering her a hand up. She accepted it but as soon as he let go of her hand she started to fall forward. He caught her and noticed that she was blushing.

"S-sorry, my feet are asleep." She apologized.

"That happened to me the first time too." He smiled.

"Alice, we need to go." Mrs. Cage said impatiently.

"Thanks for the meditation lesson. It helped a lot." Alice smiled at him as he helped her back up right. Then she left the room. Iron Fist sighed then went back to meditating.

"So what's this next test?" Alice asked, hoping it wouldn't involve needles.

"Don't worry, they're easy. First we're going to have you change into each person who's picture we show you. Then we're going to observe how you react after changing back from certain animals, that could help explain what happened this morning." Mrs. Cage rambled on and Alice tuned her out.

Once they arrived at the lab Alice went strait to work. A couple scientists hooked up a machine to monitor her transformations then they showed her a picture of Fury. She studied his face and willed herself to transform into what she saw. She opened her eyes and looked down to see, her own normal hands. She tried again but nothing happened. They changed the picture to a lady with long blonde hair and green eyes. Still nothing.

"It would appear you can only change into animals." Mr. Dr. Cage said, taking note of that on his chart.

"Hello captain obvious." Alice thought to herself.

"Ok, moving on to the next test." Mrs. Dr. Cage said, changing the picture to that of a brown rabbit. Alice changed into that with ease.

"Good, now change back and tell us how you feel." She instructed.

Alice changed back and was instinctively on high alert.

"I feel really nervous and jumpy. No pun intended." She said. The next picture was a golden retriever, her reaction, very happy and wanted to play catch. A cat, tired and lazy until she saw something shiny move on the floor. She pounced and held it up, it was just a button from someone's coat. Embarrassed she stood back up, ready for the next picture. It was a tiger, her reaction hungry and a bit irritated. The final image was a falcon, her reaction wanting to fly. After a few moments of not transforming she began to feel what the tiger had felt.

"I need to hunt, no I'm not an animal! You are partially, so why not give into your instincts? Because I might hurt someone if I do." She thought to herself, resisting the instincts.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Mrs. Cage asked.

"The tiger, it wants me to hunt." Alice said, crouching down, her hands covering her ears as though trying to block something out.

"Get the tranquilizer ready." Mr. Dr. Cage called over to one of the guards.

"I need to calm down. Focus Alice, control your breathing. No, let me hunt! Breath in, breath out, breath in, breathe out. Not working." Her thoughts where waging a war inside her head.

"Get back!" She called out, then the tiger took over. The scientists backed away slowly as the tiger looked around the room. The guards where aiming their guns at her, letting out a roar she leaped at the closest guard. Before her claws made contact a net launched from another guards gun and sent her off target. She thrashed in the net, trying to get out but a tranquilizer to her shoulder soon had her calming down. She transformed back into a human and right before she blacked out said, "I'm sorry. I couldn't control it."

The monitor said her heart rate was normal and her cells didn't seem to have changed as they tested her again. Alice woke up when they where done with the blood analysis.

"I didn't hurt anyone right?" She asked, worry laced her voice.

"No we got you with a tranquilizer just in time." Mr. Dr. Cage said.

"That explains the weird dream," Alice said, sitting up and wincing, "and the head ache."

"You should go get some rest, we're done for today." Mrs. Dr. Cage said, writing something down on her clipboard.

"We're not doing this again tomorrow are we?" Alice groaned.

"Not until after class," Coulson said coming into the room, "your going to midtown high tomorrow."

"Your kidding right? What if I go all crazy and almost eat someone?" Alice said panicking.

"Your not going to because of this," Coulson said holding up a silver bracelet, "it's a power inhibitor, latest in SHEILD tech. As long as you have it on you'll be like any normal teenager."

"Seriously? Why didn't you give this to me sooner so I could go home?" Alice grabbed the bracelet from Coulson.

"We just got it made today." Coulson said, clearly getting annoyed.

"Oh, sorry." Alice said slipping on the bracelet, "thanks for the power inhibitor."

"So your cover up story is that you just transferred schools, your parents travel a lot and your last name is Hartwell." Coulson went over.

"Hartwell?" Alice asked.

"Hartwell." Coulson confirmed.

"Ok, anything else I need to know?" Alice asked.

"I'm the principal and Spidey and the gang go to this school too." Coulson said casually.

"Ok, wow." Alice said.

"Go get some rest, your closet has clothes that should fit you, your backpack has all the supplies you'll need, and you start school at 8 o'clock sharp. Don't be late." Coulson says as he leads Alice out the door.

"Wow, you guys are really thorough." Alice commented.

"Yes, we have to be." Coulson said, opening a door and gesturing for Alice to go inside. Judging from the closets and desk Alice would guess that this would be her room.

"One question." Alice said looking around the room.

"Hmm?" Coulson seemed bored.

"Where's the bed?" Alice asked.

"It's a pull out." Coulson said, opening the biggest closet and pulling down a bed.

"Cool, thanks." Alice smiled.

"Bathroom's right through that door. If you need anything let me know." Coulson said pointing to a door as he left.

"Coulson?" Alice called just before he was all the way out the door.

"Yes?" He asked, in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Thank you, for everything." She lied sincerely.

"You're welcome." Coulson smiled back and left. Alice flopped onto the bed and let sleep take her.


	3. Chapter 3

DNA catastrophe ch 3

Please forgive me for this chapters ooc ness and how long it took me to write it!

i only own Alice everything else belongs to the respected owner.

Chapter 3: school

Alice woke up late the next morning and rushed to see what SHIELD had supplied for her wardrobe. The options weren't half bad. She settled on a light green v-neck shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, a pair of dark blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. Looking herself over in a mirror she decided that she looked fine with what she was wearing so she headed out, only to turn around and grab her backpack. Making sure her power inhibitor was still fastened to her wrist, Alice grabbed an apple from the mess hall as she left the tricarrier.

"Alice!" A SHIELD agent called over to her as she ran past.

"In a rush, running late, what do you want?" Alice said quickly.

"Fury ordered me to give you this," The agent said, strapping on a watch to her wrist, "it's a communicator, in case you get in trouble."

"Thanks, bye!"

Alice ran as though her life depended on it, which it slightly did, to her at least. She made it to school with time to spare, thankfully. She stopped by the office to pick up her schedule, bumping into a muscular guy with blond hair in a jock jacket.

"Hey, watch it." He said, turning around to glare at her.

"S-sorry." Alice ducked around him. She walked up to a rather bored looking secretary, "I'm here to pick up my schedule and locker combination."

"Alice Hartwell?" She asked, popping her bubble gum.

"Yes." Alice said, very aware that the guy she had bumped into was listening in.

"Here you go, your locker number is 175 and you don't have a locker partner."

"Thank you, have a nice day."

"Whatever kid." The secretary dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Alice hurried out of the office, keeping her head down. She read through her schedule and headed for first period, English. She entered the room and sat down at the back. The few student's already in there started to whisper as they noticed her. Alice just kept her head down, taking out a note book, a pen and a pencil from her bag. She wrote her name on the note book and started doodling on it with her pen. More students trickled into the room as the clock ticked closer to the beginning of class. Alice watched them from the corner of her eye, noticing the guy she had bumped into along with a number of others. The bell rang as the teacher came in and called her to the front.

"Class, this is Miss Alice Hartwell. She will be joining us for the foreseeable future and I expect you all to make her feel welcome." He said, calling the class to attention. He let Alice take her seat and started the class. Five minutes into it a boy came bursting through the door.

"Sorry I'm late, my locker jammed." He said, out of breath.

"Take a seat, Mr. Parker." The teacher sighed in annoyance. Alice watched him take the seat next to her, the only seat left really.

"What I miss?" The boy whispered to a dark haired girl in front of him.

"We're starting the modern poetry unit today." She whispered back.

"Great." He said sarcastically. Alice wondered what he meant by that and why did he seem so familiar? Her thoughts where interrupted as the teacher plopped a book on her desk.

"Your homework is to memorize a poem from this book and recite it to the class on Wednesday. It must be at least sixteen lines long, you are allowed to pair up to rehearse but any goofing around will result in your groups immediate cancelation. Any questions?" He said as he handed out the books. No one raised their hand so he continued on.

"You will be graded for how well you memorize the poem and how well you recite it. Mr. Thompson, please recite the first verse of the poem on page 13."

A few snickers where heard as the guy Alice had bumped into stood and read the poem.

"Side by side through the streets at midnight,

Roaming together,

Through the tumultuous night of London,

In the miraculous April weather." He read simply.

"And that class is how not to read a poem. You need to put emotion into the words. Miss. Hartwell, let's see if you can do it." The teacher leaned back against the board, ready to be disappointed.

Alice opened her book and began happily, "Side by side through the streets at midnight," she changed her tone to wistful,

"Roaming together,"

"Through the tumultuous night of London," she stated this line with a sigh of content,

"In the miraculous April weather." She changed her tone back to happy. She looked up from the book at the teacher.

"That's better," The teacher nodded appreciatively then said to the rest of the class, "the rest of the time is your's to pick and practice a poem." A few of the students stared at Alice, making her feel uncomfortable. Especially the glare she was being given from the guy. Alice buried her nose in the book, looking for a good poem. The teacher left the room and a few of the students began to chat amongst themselves. Alice was going over a poem in her head when a hand took the book from her, startling her.

"What was that?" The guy asked her, fuming with anger.

"Beg pardon?" Alice asked, confused.

"You made me look bad, and now your gonna pay the price." He growled.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I just read the poem…" Alice leaned back, ready to defend herself if need be.

"Hey Flash, leave her alone." The guy that came in late said, standing next to Alice's desk.

"Stay out of this Peter." Flash growled at him.

"Remember Alex?" Peter said, raising an eyebrow at him. Flash gave one last growl before dropping Alice's book on the floor and walking away.

"Sorry about him, his ego gets damaged if you even tap it." Peter said, picking up Alice's book and handing it back to her.

"It's ok, and thanks…" she trailed off, as she made eye contact. They where the same blue eyes as when she had battled that robot in the training room.

"Do I know you from some where?" Alice asked, suddenly a bit edgy.

"Maybe, since you're new here do you wanna eat lunch with me and some friends?" He asked, his friendly smile cheering her up.

"Sure." She said, returning his smile.

The rest of the class went by quickly and Alice managed to avoid Flash on the way out the door. She found her locker, and saw why she didn't have a partner. It was totally gross, with cobwebs and gum and graffiti all over it. Not to mention it was right next to the boiler room. Alice decided to keep her books with her for now and headed to second period, gym.

When she entered the gym the coach walked right up to her and held out his hand.

"I'm coach Wakeman, just call me Coach," He said, shaking her hand, "you must be Alice. Girl's locker rooms are to the left of the bleachers, better hurry we'll be starting in a few minutes."

"Uh… thanks." Alice said and hurried to the locker room. She got changed quickly into the gym cloths she had packed and went back out. She headed over by the girls, listening and nodding to their chatter. She felt someone watching her and noticed three boys looking in her direction. Alice blushed and looked away. A girl, Ginger by name, noticed Alice's blush and nudged her side.

"Already scoping out the hot guys, huh Alice?" She teased.

"No, I just noticed them looking at me." Alice defended, then asked, "who are they anyway?"

"The tallest, most ripped guy is Luke Cage. I would kill to go on a date with him." Ginger sighed, then introduced the other two, "the shorter guy with brown hair and tan skin is Sam Alexander, funny guy but he can be a mega goofball. And the last guy with brownish red hair is Harry Osborn, one of the richest kids in school. His dad owns Oscorp Industries. Nice guy, not snobby like some people at this school."

"Cool, so why are they looking at me?" Alice asked, confused.

"Probably cause you're the new girl that ticked off Flash Thompson." Ginger said causally, checking her manicure.

"You know about that?" Alice asked, surprised that word had gotten around so fast.

"Please something like that travels like wild fire." Ginger laughed, patting her new friend on the back, "I should probably mention he's in this class too."

"What?!" Alice said, absolute dread filling her. Right then the coach blew his whistle, ordering everyone to line up on the half court line.

"The game today is dodge ball, you guys already know the rules so let's just get started" The coach said, "Flash, Luke, you two are team captains. Call it in the air." Coach flipped a quarter as Luke shouted tails as Flash shouted heads. It was tails up so Luke chose first. The two captains went back and forth choosing until only Alice and a girl named Crystal was left.

"Crystal," Flash said.

"Then I'll take Alice." Luke sighed, not knowing if she'd be annoy good at this game. Alice hurried over to her side of the gym as Coach and his assistant placed balls in the middle of the floor.

"Do you have any skills?" He asked her, raising an eye brow.

"I can dodge, that's it." She said, eyes down.

"Then just stay alive." Luke said and turned his attention to Coach.

"Ok, you may begin when the music starts." Coach said and signaled to his assistant to hit a button on the remote.

"Music?" Alice wonders as a familiar beat starts coming out of the speakers. Everyone rushes to grab a ball, except for Alice. She stayed back, watching as her team and Flash's team begin to pelt each other with the hard rubber balls. All the while the speakers blare out,

"Steve walks warily down the street,

with the brim pulled way down low

Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,

machine guns ready to go

Are you ready, Are you ready for this

Are you hanging on the edge of your seat

Out of the doorway the bullets rip

To the sound of the beat" it seemed to Alice that the people throwing the balls where trying to match the beat.

"Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust"

The person to her left gets hit.

"And another one gone, and another one gone" then to her right.

"Another one bites the dust

Hey, I'm gonna get you too

Another one bites the dust" Alice barely avoids the dodge ball aimed at her head. She looks over at a smiling Flash as he readies another ball.

"How do you think I'm going to get along,

without you, when you're gone

You took me for everything that I had,

and kicked me out on my own" he flung it but Alice nimbly dodged that one too, moving to the music as more balls kept flying at her.

"Are you happy, are you satisfied

How long can you stand the heat"

Flash frowned in concentration, hurling ball after ball.

"Out of the doorway the bullets rip

To the sound of the beat" but he just kept missing.

"Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust" around Flash his own team is getting taken out by Luke and a few of the other guys.

"And another one gone, and another one gone

Another one bites the dust

Hey, I'm gonna get you too

Another one bites the dust" Flash dodges a ball thrown by Sam as he takes out a wimpy looking kid with a shot to the gut.

"Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man" Flash nails Sam then Luke.

"And bring him to the ground

You can beat him

You can cheat him

You can treat him bad and leave him

When he's down

But I'm ready, yes I'm ready for you

I'm standing on my own two feet

Out of the doorway the bullets rip

repeating the sound of the beat" now it was just him and Alice, facing off. A new song starts up as Flash tries to get her.

"Now that you're out of my life

I'm so much better

You thought that I'd be weak without you

But I'm stronger

You thought that I'd be broke without you

But I'm richer

You thought that I'd be sad without you

I laugh harder

You thought I wouldn't grow without you

Now I'm wiser

Though that I'd be helpless without you

But I'm smarter

You thought that I'd be stressed without you

But I'm chillin'

You thought I wouldn't sell without you

Sold 9 million

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)

Thought I couldn't breathe without

I'm inhaling

You thought I couldn't see without you

Perfect vision

You thought I couldn't last without you

But I'm lastin'

You thought that I would die without you

But I'm livin'

Thought that I would fail without you

But I'm on top

Thought it would be over by now

But it won't stop

Thought that I would self destruct

But I'm still here

Even in my years to come

I'm still gon be here

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)

I'm wishin' you the best

Pray that you are blessed

Bring much success, no stress, and lots of happiness

(I'm better than that)

I'm not gon blast you on the radio

(I'm better than that)

I'm not gon lie on you and your family

(I'm better than that)

I'm not gon hate on you in the magazines

('m better than that)

I'm not gon compromise my Christianity

(I'm better than that)

You know I'm not gon diss you on the internet

Cause my mama taught me better than that

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)

(Beyonce)

Oh (oh) oh (oh)...

After of all of the darkness and sadness

Soon comes happiness

If I surround my self with positive things

I'll gain prosperity

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm not gon give up (What?)

I'm not gon stop (What?)

I'm gon work harder (What?)

I'm a survivor (What?)

I'm gonna make it (What?)

I will survive (What?)

Keep on survivin' (What?)"

A four minute song and not one hit, Alice smiled triumphantly as she gracefully dodged another of Flash's throws. Right as the song ends Flash throws a ball, aimed right at her head. Alice instinctively leaps up and takes the blow to her chest, landing in a stumble as the air is forced from her lungs. She holds her ground as she breaths in, holding up the ball in victory. Flash's jaw drops in disbelief, his team grumbles at the loss. Luke comes over and gives Alice a slap on the back.

"I thought you said you could only dodge." He laughed.

"I did. That last one was weird, I've never done anything like that before." She admitted, handing him the ball.

"Reset the balls for a new game." Coach hollered.

"You think you could do that again?" Sam asked Alice as they put the balls back on the line.

"No, I think it was a once in a life time thing." She smiled.

"To bad, I was looking forward to Flash getting another beat down." He said smiling at her. Coach blew the whistle and the game started again. Flash smiled a mischievous smile and winked at Alice. Confused Alice froze, recovering in time to dodge the ball he had thrown at her. Flash smirked and signaled his buddies to help him out. They all aimed at Alice and fired. Alice jumped to the side just in time. The poor wimpy kid behind her wasn't so lucky. Alice went over to help him back up, apologizing over and over again. Flash signaled to his friends again and they launched a second round, nailing Alice multiple times and causing her to fall onto her back.

"Thompson! You and your friends just earned yourselves ten minutes in the box!" Coach hollered as everyone stopped. Ginger was helping Alice back up as the assistant coach came over.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, just a little bruised." She said, standing back up.

"Flash is such a jerk." Ginger huffed.

"He has a really good arm through." Alice tried to laugh.

"You sure you're ok?" The assistant coach asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." She nodded dismissively. The coach changed the game from dodge ball to basket ball and had everyone make free throws from the two point line. By the end of that Alice felt dead tired as she trudged to her third period, algebra. It went by slowly and nobody talked to her. But she did notice some glances her way from a few boys. The bell finally rang and Alice headed to her next class, science. In there she spotted Peter talking to Harry and a girl with red hair. Alice headed over and sat behind them.

"Hi, I'm Mary Jane Watson, but you can call me MJ." The red head said energetically when she spotted the new girl.

"Alice Hartwell." Alice smiled shyly shaking MJ's hand.

"What happened to your eye?" Peter asked, finally turning to look at her.

"Gym class, don't ask." Alice said, gingerly touching her black eye.

"You should have seen her, and the look on Flash's face when she kept dodging his hardest throws! Priceless!" Harry laughed, making Alice blush.

"Sounds like I missed quite the show." Peter chuckled.

"You said it, if it hadn't been for Stuart she would have won the game for us." Harry smiled at the thought of beating Flash.

"If it hadn't been for me, poor Stuart wouldn't have gotten pummeled." Alice said, looking down at the doodles on her note book.

"Still it sounds like it would have made one heck of a story." MJ said, patting Alice on the shoulder.

"I guess." Alice smiled. She continued to chat with Harry, MJ and Peter until the teacher came in. The class was uneventful and rather boring in Alice's opinion. When the bell rang Alice dropped her books off at her locker, picked up the next ones she would need and headed to lunch. When she had gotten her food, an apple, a bottle of milk, and a ham and cheese sandwich, she looked around for a familiar face. She noticed Peter waving at her and moved to where he was.

"Hi Pete!" She smiled.

"Hey Alice, have a seat." Peter smiled. She sat down across from him and looked around the table.

"Hey Alice, how's your head?" Luke asked.

"Better now thanks." She smiled.

"Flash got sent to principal Coulson's office for what he did." Sam chimed in.

"What did he do?" A girl with long brown hair, tan skin and brown eyes asked, Alice recognized her from her English class.

"You should have been there Ava!" Sam said, "Alice was like a dodgeball ninja, until Flash and a couple of his goons slammed her."

"Ouch, that explains the black eye." Ava said, picking up her sandwich.

"Hey Danny! Over here!" Peter called to someone across the room. Alice was taking a bite of her sandwich when a boy sat down next to her. She looked over at him and almost choked. He was so handsome, with his blonde hair and green eyes.

"Is something wrong?" He asked as he noticed her staring at him.

"No…"she squeaked then cleared her throat," ahem… no nothing's wrong." She was blushing furiously and mentally kicking herself for being so lame.

"Ok." He said taking a bite of his salad.

"So Alice, how do you like it here?" Ava asked.

"I like it, it's nice here." She smiled as she chatted with the group.

"So any freak outs?" Peter whispered.

"What?" Alice asked confused.

"Let me guess, Fury forgot to tell you who we are?" Ava asked, popping a grape into her mouth.

"No, should he have?" Alice asked.

"Nova, Powerman, White tiger, Spider-Man, and Iron Fist." Luke counted off the names pointing to each person at the table in turn. Alice was mentally kicking herself for not recognizing them before, she seemed to be mentally kicking herself a lot lately.

"Holy cow." She finally said after a minute of silence.

"That's how I felt when I first met them." Peter laughed.

"First met who?" MJ asked as she took a seat next to Alice.

"You know, these guys." Peter said gesturing at the group.

"Yeah, and now you guys go practically every where together." She laughed. The teens chatted as they ate until the bell rang.

"Hey Alice, what's your next class?" Sam asked, walking up next to her.

"Art with Mrs. Black." She answered, looking at her schedule.

"Oh, bad luck. She's one of those crazy teachers."

"How so?"

"She doesn't make eye contact with anyone when she's talking to the class, instead she stares at the ceiling. I'd transfer out of that class in I were you." Sam warned.

"Whatever, I'll decide for myself." She brushed him off and headed to the classroom, Danny following behind her. She slowed her pace until they matched strides.

"Mrs. Black's art class?" She asked him.

"Mrs. Black's art class." Danny confirmed as they arrived at the door. They went in and sat down at a table. Other students filed in and Mrs. Black arrived soon after the bell had rung.

"Alright class, first off we'll go over the rules since you seem to have forgotten them." She stated strictly, not making eye contact at all. Alice zoned out and doodled in her notebook some more, vaguely aware of what Mrs. Black was saying. She did catch "you are allowed to use your musical device when you are working but not during lectures or tests."

Once she was done ranting she sent them off to do their projects, whether it was drawing, sculpting, paper mâché, or painting. The goal in the class was simple, have at least three projects in the four previously mentioned mediums, enter what you feel your best work is in the art shows, and do the homework. Alice pulled out her new sketch book and started to draw a landscape. It was a barren wasteland, covered in snow with a group of simple buildings in the middle. She glanced over at Danny to see him with a well worn sketch book, diligently working on something. Alice went back to her landscape as Danny looked over at her.

"K'un L'un?" He whispered to her.

"How'd you guess?" She teased.

"It's good but your missing an ornate gold orb on top of that building." Danny leaned over and pointed at the building. Alice nodded and continued her work. They drew in silence until the bell rang, ending the school day.

"I'll meet up with you later, I've got to get some books from my locker." Alice said as they stepped out into the hall.

"K, see you later." Danny said, nodding and walking in the opposite direction. Alice was getting her science book when the locker slammed shut, nearly crushing her arm.

"Hey! What gives?" She said irritatedly, turning to see the glaring gaze of Flash, "oh, hi Flash."

"Don't you 'hi' me nerd! I told you, you where gonna pay for making me look like an idiot." He growled, slapping her books to the floor, and punching her in the gut. Having the air knocked from your lungs twice in a week is never a fun thing, but Alice managed to stay standing. Flash punched her again and again until she was down on the ground. He kicked her as she held up her arm to defender herself and accidentally knocked off her power inhibitor. Alice bristled, the animals in her growling at her to fight back. Instead she stood up and looked Flash in the eyes.

"What's your deal? All I did was read a poem the way it should be read, with feeling. Forgive me for doing something my dead mom taught me." She growled.

That stopped Flash, for a moment, before he pushed her against the lockers.

"Whatever freak." Flash walked away. Alice wanted to lunge at him and claw his throat out. She looked down at her clenched fists before noticing claws drawing blood from her palms. Slightly panicked, she quickly picked up her power inhibitor and placed it back on her wrist. Instantly the claws went away. Alice collected her things and hurried as fast as her injuries allowed her back to the tri-carrier

When she got there Coulson was waiting, ready to get her to the lab for more testing.

"How was your first day? Looks like you had fun." He remarked as they walked to the lab.

"It was great, except for the end. As you've probably guessed, I got beat up." She said, gently touching her black eye. He didn't make her tell him anything else except the name of who had beat her up.

"I'd rather not. You know how bullies are, as soon as you tell an adult things often get worse." She said before they entered the lab, "hey Docs, anything new?" She asked in a cheery manner as both Dr. Cages came over.

"I'm afraid not, but we're close. We just need another blood sample today." Mrs. Dr. Cage explained as she typed something up on a digital clipboard.

"That's a relief." Alice smirked and allowed them to take a blood sample. She left and went to her bedroom. Setting her backpack on the desk, she went into the bathroom to treat her injuries. As she was in the middle of washing out a nasty cut on her cheek there was a knock at her door.

"Hey Alice! Can I come in?" Danny's voice called through the door.

"I'd rather you didn't." She called back, poking her head out of the bathroom doorway.

"I heard what happened, I just wanted to see if you where ok." He sounded concerned.

"I'm fine." She reassured him.

"So what's wrong with me coming in then?" He asked. And he had her at that one.

Sighing she replied, "if you must."

Danny came in, except he was dressed as Iron Fist. She kept her head down as he looked her over. Her clothes were scuffed up and there was a tare in her pant leg that she was going to have to fix.

"Alice," Danny said, she looked up slightly at him, noticing the sympathy in his frown. His mask was on so she couldn't see his eyes.

"I'm ok, really." She lied.

"Let me help you." He said as he gently touched her cut with a glowing hand. She winced but calmed as her cut healed. (If you read Iron Fist's Ultimate Spider Man wiki page it says he has healing powers.) Iron Fist moved his hand away from the cut but continued healing other cuts and scrapes on her face. Alice touched where the cut had been, drawing her hand away she didn't even see a trace of blood.

"Thanks." She smiled as Iron Fist healed her black eye too.

"No problem, anything for a friend." He smiled kindly back at her.

"Hey Iron Fist, you ready for training?" Nova called down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" He called back.

"Go ahead, I'll see you later." Alice smiled at him.

"Ok, see you later." He said then excited the room, leaving Alice to work on her homework.


End file.
